Our Story

Caina Tea was founded in 2014 by a husband and wife team, one American and one Chinese, but the conception and development began long before then.

Together Patrick and Xianna have traveled throughout China in search of pure teas, tea culture, and tea knowledge. They traveled together for more than four years and have seen many different areas of tea country, and beyond. They have met directly with the masters of both cultivation and the art of consumption. They have made some very good friends and have built connections to some very rare and unusual teas and teaware, like their Yixing Black Tea, and Chaozhou Teapots, which even Chinese tea connoisseurs would be hard-pressed to find!

The goal of Caina Tea has been purity and health from conception, and all our teas come from small, ecologically-conscientious farms in the heart of China. They are not “USDA Certified Organic” and there are no international agencies to certify these small farms as “Fair Trade”. But we have sourced all of our teas personally and have developed personal relationship with all our farmers. We are your source for organic assurance, and we can assure you that the farmhands get paid a fair salary and are not exploited in any way. Our biggest suppliers are friends of the family, and that’s as good as family in Chinese culture. We stay with them and eat our meals with them when we visit. We know all the details of their business and are proud of their work.

We are the explorers, exporters, and importers of all our teas. So you can be sure you’re getting the freshest, purest teas in the most direct route possible and at the best prices. All our teas are meant for the Chinese market, which means the price is determined by the supply and demand in China. This also means that all our teas would not be available on the American market were we not to collect them in China and directly fly them over ourselves. We are the only foreign suppliers our farmers have ever done business with, and we have farmers all over China!